WeWriteRomance.com would like to welcome Deanna Raybourn, author of The Dark Enquiry!
About the Book
The Dark Enquiry
(A Lady Julia Grey Novel)
- Mira Books
- June 21, 2011
- ISBN-10: 0778312372
Buy The Dark Enquiry now!
Book Description:
Partners now in marriage and in trade, Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane have finally returned from abroad to set up housekeeping in London. But merging their respective collections of gadgets, pets and servants leaves little room for the harried newlyweds themselves, let alone Brisbane’s private enquiry business.
Among the more unlikely clients: Julia’s very proper brother, Lord Bellmont, who swears Brisbane to secrecy about his case. Not about to be left out of anything concerning her beloved—if eccentric—family, spirited Julia soon picks up the trail of the investigation.
It leads to the exclusive Ghost Club, where the alluring Madame Séraphine holds evening séances…and not a few powerful gentlemen in thrall. From this eerie enclave unfolds a lurid tangle of dark deeds, whose tendrils crush reputations and throttle trust.
Shocked to find their investigation spun into salacious newspaper headlines, bristling at the tension it causes between them, the Brisbanes find they must unite or fall. For Bellmont’s sake and more they’ll face myriad dangers born of dark secrets, the kind men kill to keep….
Interview with Deanna
WWR: What inspired you to write romance fiction? Have you ever considered writing in another genre?
DR: Funny you should ask—I already do! My novels are cross-genre. I find my books shelved in romance, general fiction, historical fiction, mystery. One bookseller even decided to put me in YA because she thought it would make for a nice cross-pollination! I always find it interesting to see where booksellers and librarians like to slot my work because to me they’re just my books—usually structured as mysteries with a romantic flair and historical setting. But I understand why they need to be able to say to a customer or patron what a book is. It’s a sort of shorthand, and if your books fit easily into a genre, a reader can relax because they know they have certain expectations which are going to be met. When you write cross-genre books, it’s a little more challenging when people try to sum you up. As far as inspiration, who doesn’t love a love story? They’re great fun to write.
WWR: A lot of writers complain that although reading’s what made them want to write, they don’t often have much time for reading once their careers take off. Have you found that to be true?
DR: No—I would be fetal under the couch, whimpering, without books. I don’t have enough time to read every last book I want, but then again, I never did. Being published hasn’t changed that at all. I find that most of my reading ties back to my own work in some fashion. When my publisher and I were discussing what I should write next, my first thought was to make a list of the subjects I most enjoy reading about. I think five of those made it into my book proposal, which means I’ll be able to read books I was planning to read anyway—I just get to use them as research!
WWR: Readers and writers alike love to know the ins and outs of how a writer structures their time when working on a book. Can you share a typical day in your writing life with us? Also, has the way you work today changed from the way you did things when you first started out?
DR: I have figured out the best routine by trial and error, so it doesn’t really change. Since I am a morning person, I write first thing after everyone else is gone—usually about nine. I write for maybe two hours then switch to “authorly” things until lunch. That might be blogging or answering emails or giving interviews. After lunch I will usually work on research—reading, screening documentaries. I may also read over what I wrote that morning and note the changes to start with the next morning. That sort of eases me into the day when I’m ready to begin again. There’s nothing more awful than that feeling of having to push yourself into the chair, so if I can trick myself into it, all the better! I do love my work; I just don’t always love getting started. That’s where the discipline comes in.
WWR: In that same line of thinking, is the writing life anything like what you imagined when you first started out?
DR: It is infinitely better. When you imagine it, you think about the fun and glamorous things like book signings and awards ceremonies and being wined and dined by your publisher. You don’t ever imagine how incredible it feels to hear from a reader who says your books got her through a difficult divorce or her last chemo treatment. Those are the moments that I still find absolutely staggering. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give someone is that of escape, and I’m incredibly privileged to do that.
WWR: Your latest, THE DARK ENQUIRY, is the fifth installment in the adventures of Lady Julia Grey and Nicholas Brisbane (to be released on June 21st). Can you tell us a bit about the series and this book specifically?
DR: The series chronicles the adventures of an aristocratic amateur sleuth, Lady Julia, and her professional enquiry agent husband, Nicholas Brisbane. It’s a mystery series with a romantic twist, and the fifth book, THE DARK ENQUIRY, is the “twistiest” yet! Julia and Nicholas are forced to take a case involving a notorious Spiritualist club in London in order to save Julia’s eldest brother from destruction. There are séances, Gypsies, and a few new characters who reveal some interesting tidbits from Brisbane’s shadowy past.
WWR: When you wrote the first Lady Grey and Nicholas Brisbane book, did you realize you were starting an entire series of books? Where did you get your inspiration?
DR: I decided to make it a series when I was about halfway through the first draft. I was just having so much fun with the characters I didn’t want to turn them loose! So I deliberately left the ending open just enough to allow me to go back and pick up the threads and carry on if a publisher wanted me to. It was only after the book was finished that I realized it was actually much more tempting to a publisher to be offered a potential series rather than just a single book, so I was accidentally clever.
WWR: Also, what other books do you have in the works already? More in this series or will you be opening up to new works? Perhaps you could give us a hint of what’s to come in the next year or so?
DR: My publisher and I are in talks right now regarding a stand-alone or even a few stand-alones before a possible return to the series. My editor has been adamant from the beginning that I take breaks because she doesn’t want me to be limited by the series. She knows how challenging it is for me to take on something new and she loves to push me out of my comfort zone! But I completely agree with her that a little fear is a very good thing for a creative endeavor, and mixing things up by adding stand-alones is the best way to do that.
WWR: Do you like to hear from readers? If so, how would a reader contact you?
DR: I adore hearing from readers! They can email me (deanna@deannaraybourn.com) or they are welcome to friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
WWR: Do you participate in any blogs? Is there somewhere that your readers can find you if they want the chance to talk with you?
DR: I blog five days a week at www.deannaraybourn.com/blog about all kinds of things! I realized very early on that I would be tremendously bored if I blogged about nothing but writing, so I may chat about what I’m reading or cooking or something fab I found on Netflix. I have also been known to post photos of new shoes if they are particularly delicious… I also love to answer reader questions, so I have an open-door policy about that. If a reader wants to know something, they can pop it into the comments section and I will reply with a blog post as soon as I can.
WWR: We’d like to leave any authors out there with something as well, so we were wondering what the single most important piece of advice you received after you decided you wanted to be a published author one day?
DR: Before my first book came out in print, my editor and I were talking about all the increased demands on my time. She told me never to let the business of being an author interfere with the business of being a writer. Superb advice! Those two roles call for completely different skill sets and energies, and if you aren’t careful, the much more social demands of being an author can easily swamp the quieter work of being a writer. The work always comes first, and I find everything else falls into place as long as I have that sorted.
{ 4 comments }
Welcome Deanna! Thank you for joining us! I love reading all of your interview questions. They were very interesting.
My pleasure, Heather–thanks so much for the invitation!
I enjoy your Lady Gray novels. I wish more authors wrote series books like this in a historical type setting. :-)
I am not a big fan of this type of book normally, but your writing has a flare to it that I enjoy. What are the new books going to be about if not the Lady Gray?